The Trunk in the Attic
by writer007
Summary: Ch 4 up! Molly Weasley has saved all of the owls she has received from her children over the years in a trunk. One day, while busying herself with spring cleaning, she comes across the trunk and remembers many cheerful memories.
1. ch 1 Spring Cleaning

**The Trunk in the Attic**

**Chapter 1- Spring Cleaning**

Molly Weasley decided to start on spring cleaning. The Burrow was in perfect condition as Molly busied herself everyday to cover up the lonely moments without Arthur or her children. Her youngest children were off at Hogwarts. Fred and George were busy running Weasley's Wizarding Wheezes. Percy----Molly stopped for a moment to think of her third son. She hoped Percy was doing all right. Charlie was in Romania and Bill was as busy as ever in Egypt. Molly sighed. Fred and George came over for dinner often. Charlie and Bill apparated to the Burrow every weekend. Arthur came home every night from the ministry. However, Molly Weasley still had found herself missing everyone so dearly. She tried to keep her mind off of missing everyone by cleaning the Burrow from top to bottom. The Burrow hardly needed it now.

Suddenly, Molly thought of one place where she has not cleaned in quite a long time. The attic!

'Must be full of dust and disorder,' Molly thought cheerfully.

Mrs. Weasley hurried up the steps to the attic, pausing slightly at each of her children's rooms. Bill left just yesterday, but that seemed years ago. William Weasley was displayed on his door and Charles Weasley was posted right underneath. Molly had scrubbed the room clean. Charlie's old stuffed dragons were arranged in the order of size on his shelf. Bill's books were neatly displayed in alphabetical order on the bookshelf. Their toys were put away in a large toy chest. Molly remembered that it wasn't long ago when she couldn't even see the floor in this room, but everything was spotless now.

Mrs. Weasley climbed up another two floors and stopped at Percy's room. His room had always been proper and Molly did not have to spend too much time cleaning. A soft ache in her heart had her hope for Percy's return to the Burrow. His old Headboy and Prefect badges were displayed on his wall.

Molly sighed as she climbed up another floor to Fred and George's room. Their room had been the messiest. Molly had spent a good week cleaning and surprising herself with all the random explosions. Their room was much too quiet now. A few trick wands were neatly stored in a small chest along with trick parchments (everything you wrote erased itself twenty minutes later), numerous faulty quills and bottles of bright colors that Molly was afraid to open.

Ron's room was extremely orange. Mrs. Weasley smiled as she picked up his old broken wand. He had still kept it. The empty owl cage had several owl treats waiting for Pig. Molly noticed a parchment poking out from underneath Ron's bed. She quickly picked it up to put on Ron's desk and noticed it was addressed to Hermione. The letter was never mailed. At first, Molly thought to mail the letter for Ron, but then realized as she skimmed through it that it was a love letter and Ron must have been too embarrassed to send it. Molly smiled and placed the letter back underneath Ron's bed.

'Hermione and Ron should have been together years ago! What is taking them so long?' She wondered.

Finally, she arrived at Ginny's room. Ginny had kept her room fairly clean. Mrs. Weasley noticed a picture of Ginny and Harry on the table. They waved at her. Molly smiled as she gently picked up the frame for an unnecessary wipe. Then she gently put the frame back on the table.

Finally, Mrs. Weasley arrived up in the attic. She picked up her wand and began to sweep the dust away. She cheerfully opened the curtains and gave them a thorough cleaning.

"There," she said outloud as the sunshine came streaming through. "that's much better."

Mrs. Weasley turned to give the floors a good scrub when her foot hit something hard.

"Ouch!" she exclaimed and rubbed her foot. She saw an old, brown trunk below her. Molly curiously opened the lid and coughed at the amount of dust that was in it. She waved her wand to remove the dust. Hundreds of letters, each neatly folded in small stacks were in the trunk.

Molly Weasley remembered. This was the trunk that stored all of her children's letters! Eventually, it got too full and she started another one.

Molly eagerly picked up a letter and opened it. It was from Bill.

_Dear Mum,_

_Camp is great. However, Dad and I have no food to eat. Please send us some. _

_-Billy_

The letter brought faint tears to Molly's eyes. Bill had wanted to go to the Young Wizard's Camp of Magic and Surprises, but they could not afford to send him. Arthur had then decided to camp out with Bill and Charlie in the backyard.

The memory stirred from Molly's mind.

_After Molly received the owl from Billy, she caught a glimpse of him and Arthur setting up a tent in the backyard. Charlie was toddling around with his stuffed dragon. She went into the kitchen to finish up the chicken and potatoes she was making. Little Percy came crawling into the room. Molly picked him up and tickled him, making Percy laugh. Then she set him down on his highchair and gave him some mashed carrots. _

_Molly carried the chicken and potatoes outside with a flask of pumpkin juice. _

_"Dinner, boys!" she called._

_"Mum!" Billy came running over. "You're not supposed to be here! You're supposed to be miles away at the Burrow. This is the Weasley Camp, which is located in a top secret place!"_

_"Oh, I'm sorry." Molly apologized._

_"Thanks, dear," Arthur said, taking the food and kissing her on the cheek. "We'll be back home in the morning."_

Molly sniffed at this memory. She always appreciated Arthur's efforts to make his boys' dreams come true. Another letter fluttered on to her lap.

_Dear Mum,_

_I have been teaching Charlie how to fly on his toy broomstick. He gets an O for effort and an E for skills. However, he gets a T for breaking my toy broomstick. I am refusing to come back inside the house._

_-Billy_

_Charlie had handed her the letter while Bill watched from outside. Charlie was crying and Molly quickly picked him up. _

_"Oh, don't cry, Charlie." Molly said, wiping his tears away._

_"Billy is mad at me!" Charlie sniffed. "I broke his broomstick!"_

_"That's alright. Now go and watch Percy while I talk to Bill, okay?"_

_Charlie ran off as Molly waved her wand to fix the broomstick. Then, she went outside._

Molly carefully folded the letter and placed it back into the trunk. She felt a hand on her shoulder.

"Molly?" Arthur said softly.

"Oh, Arthur! You're home early." Molly smiled at her husband.

"Yes, what are you doing up here?"

"Just cleaning. Do you remember camping out in the backyard with Bill and Charlie?"

Arthur smiled as he thought of his memory. "Of course."

"They're all grown up now." Molly sniffed. She caught herself and got up.

Then she dried her eyes and cleared her throat. "Well, I better go finish dinner!"

"There, now, Molly." Arthur said softly. "They come back to the Burrow at least once a week, don't they?"

"Yes, but the house just seems so empty without them." Molly replied as she walked downstairs with Arthur.

Arthur held her hand as they prepared dinner at the Burrow.


	2. ch 2 The Early Years

**Chapter 2- The Early Years**

_Dear Mum,_

_We are sorry for blowing off the roof of the house. We did not mean to. We hope you and Dad still love us. _

_Fred and George_

Molly remembered that incident all too well. Fred and George had been six and a half years old and causing trouble all over the place. One morning, while she was busy taking care of a sick Ron with the fever, Fred and George had somehow gotten hold of her wand and ended up blowing off the roof. Molly had stormed in and put them in their rooms for a time out and then owled Arthur to come home immediately. After yelling at the twins for an hour, she found that Charlie had gotten stuck in a tree while flying on his broomstick and that Percy was complaining that someone had stole his copy of the Magical Encyclopedia. What a morning that was! As always, everything was chaotic at the Burrow.

Molly reached forward for another letter. This one was from Arthur while he was away in America for a huge assignment concerning some wizards who thought it would be funny to mess with an American singing star.

_Mollywobbles_

_USA__ is fascinating! Obliviated many memories, but still had trouble fixing the singer's skin color back to normal. Think the wizards behind this may have used permanent skin ink. However, we seemed to have succeeded in covering up this incident in pretending it was a huge accident. Be back very soon!_

_Arthur _

Molly had been extremely alarmed at this whole incident, believing that it may have been Death Eaters behind it. However, Arthur assured her that he was just Muggle baiting. Still, to this day, the famous American singer never got his original skin color back.

As Molly repaired some tears on the letters, a large, handmade card slid into Molly's lap. It was a Mother's Day card. Possibly the last one signed by all of the Weasley children together.

In the front were the neat penmanship of Bill's handwriting (as best he could) stating HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY. Then, inside were lots of little drawings and signatures from all of her boys and a small handprint from the infant Ginny. Arthur had signed it too, with a drawing of a little airplane stating, "you make my heart leap into the sky".

Molly remembered how touched she was when the children all crowded around her and watched her read the card. Molly was so touched that she didn't complain about the messy handprints that Ginny left on the floor crawling from one room to the other because Charlie forgot to wash her hands off.

Then came Bill's first letter from Hogwarts. Written in a quick, rushed handwriting, Bill wrote,

_Dear Mum, _

_I forgot to bring my Standard Book of Spells. Could you send it to me? Thanks._

_Bill_

Molly remembered that when Bill was nine years old he decided that Molly should stop calling him "Billy" in public and to strictly stick to Bill as he was no longer a little boy. She had agreed with him and laughed at it, but later while upstairs in her room she realized how strangely empty she felt now that one of her sons declared himself "no longer a little boy."

Behind Bill's letter was a crisp folded letter with the words _St. Mungo's Hospital for Magical Maladies and Injuries _on top. Molly shuddered as she recalled what this letter was meant for.

Molly had written it herself. The Dark Lord had risen to an unbelievable height and Arthur had been severely injured when a large group of Death Eaters invaded the ministry, searching for some sort of record.

Molly's eyes misted over as she opened and read her writing,

_'Arthur Weasley, How could you!' Molly wrote in bold print, her face flushed and tears spilling over. _

_How dare you leave me with five children and one more on the way, sitting here in this cold hospital room beside you, fearful of your life? How many times have I told you that you are not allowed to leave me nor the children! What would the boys do without their father/ What would I do without you? _

_Arthur Weasley, I did not marry you to be alone! I married you so we could be together! We are supposed to grow old together, until our bones are brittle and our hair grey. _

_You are what keeps the family going. Don't you know how afraid I feel every time the clock moves to Mortal Peril and knowing that I cannot do anything, but hope that you move back to "work" or "home"? Do you know how terrible it is for me to stay up each night, wondering why you are not home yet and missing you terribly, yet knowing that I can never worry you. You have enough on your mind, but Arthur, it's driving me insane._

_When you put that ring on my finger, you promised that you will always be here for me. Where are you now? I need you. I'm not strong enough to carry on with you. _

_Arthur, you better not leave me! You better wake up Arthur Weasley, or I will never forgive you!' _

_Molly finished the letter and sealed it, knowing she would never show it to her husband. Instead, after writing out her frustrations on paper, she put on a brave face and held Arthur's hand, hoping that he would wake up._

Thankfully, Arthur had made it through the night and never had to go to St. Mungo's again, except for the horrible incident about fifteen years later. But Harry had helped him be rescued in time.

Mrs. Weasley reflected on her husband for a moment. She remembered all the years they had been through together. The many times when they were burdened with financial worries, Arthur had always ensured that they would be alright. And somehow, he always came home with some extra sickles when times became desperately low. Once, when Arthur came home with a small bag full of galleons, Molly had been so relieved to be able to provide school materials for the children that she did not notice the source of the galleons. Several days later, she noticed Arthur's hands looking abnormal and then demanded to know where his wedding ring went.

Molly's heart sank when she remembered how she yelled at him for losing it and being careless of their marriage rings when it hit her that Arthur could not have possibly earned the bag of galleons for a "few hours overtime". She had sobbed and begged Arthur to forgive her. They were quiet for a few moments and Arthur promised that he would get it back as soon as they had enough saved up, but Molly refused. Instead, she sold her ring as well and told Arthur that their marriage did not need a silly token.

"Indeed it does not." Molly muttered. Suddenly, she heard a crack down below and looked out of the attic window to see a figure walking toward the Burrow.

"Percy!" Molly exclaimed in excitement. Her lips trembled. She hoped he was back for good at last.

Molly immediately Apparated downstairs to open the door for her son.


	3. ch 3 An Unexpected Inspection

**Chapter 3- An Unexpected Inspection**

As Molly threw open the door, Percy stopped shortly and then gave a small nod, "Hello, Mother."

Mrs. Weasley threw her arms around her third son and her eyes became shiny with tears.

"Percy, how are you?"

"I'm fine, Mother, but I cannot stay long," Percy stood rather stiffly and did not embrace his mother back. "I've only come to inform you that your residence---" his eyes glanced up at the Burrow swiftly. "is subject to a Ministry inspection. The department should be arriving shortly under my supervision."

"_Inspection?_" Mrs. Weasley exclaimed, outraged. "Inspection of the Burrow? For what? We have no Dark Arts objects here, young man and you know that!"

Percy seemed to have jumped a fraction, but he recovered himself quickly and not meeting his mother's eyes, he answered, "There are suspicions of illegal tampering of Muggle devices on the perimeter."

Another four cracks were heard and four wizards proceeded into the Burrow, each of them nodding at Percy in greeting.

"Ohh!" Mrs. Weasley said grumpily. "A search of the Burrow!"

She immediately followed the wizards into the house. "Don't you dare mess up any of our possessions!" She pointed her wand at a wizard who was tampering with the fireplace, trying to see if there were any loose bricks hiding things.

"Not to worry, Mrs. Weasley," the wizard answered. "All of your possessions should be in their exact original state after the inspection." He paused. "Unless we find it fit to seize any illegal ones."

"We do NOT possess any illegal objects!" Mrs. Weasley bellowed. "How DARE you accuse me----" she stopped as she saw two wizards walking outside with a trunk full of plugs and Muggle radios, a computer and a skateboard.

"WHAT ARE YOU DOING!" Mrs. Weasley rushed over and tried to seize the trunk out of the wizards' hands.

"Mrs. Weasley, please!" one of the wizards said helplessly. "This is our order! All of these Muggle devices have been enchanted! What would happen if a Muggle happened to

have found one….I mean, a skateboard that can ride upside down and turn the rider invisible? It's risking exposure of our world!"

"This is my husband's----it's his hobby, he doesn't mean anything by it!" Mrs. Weasley argued, pulling the trunk away. No matter how much she disliked Arthur's hobby, she knew that he loved it and even though she disapproved, she did not want the ministry to be involved in seizing things!

"Mrs. Weasley, try to be reasonable!" the wizard replied. "You will give me no choice if you do not cooperate!"

But Mrs. Weasley was not listening and instead, pointed her wand over to another wizard carrying what seemed to be an airplane's engine. The engine flew out of his hands.

"Mrs. Weasley, you've given us no choice, I am truly sorry." The first wizard pointed his wand at her and cried, "**_Petrificus_****_ Totalus_****!"**

Mrs. Weasley suddenly stopped moving although her face was a fury of anger.

After the wizards finishing collecting everything that was under suspicion, they released Mrs. Weasley and immediately Disapparated when she came charging after them, her wand raised.

--------------

_Dear Mother,_

_I am enjoying Hogwarts immensely. The lessons are interesting and the library collection is fantastic. I am receiving top marks in all of my classes. It is my goal to be Prefect my fifth year and I've already begun to work towards it. It's nice to be able to read and work in peace although Charlie did interrupt me yesterday by pestering me into watching Quiddich practices. I reckon he just wants to show off his flying. I hope everyone is well. Please say hello to Father, Fred, George, Ron and Ginny for me._

_Percy_

Mrs. Weasley sniffed and wiped her eyes. How was she to know that Percy would someday leave the family? He had always caused no trouble, always following the rules and always serious. However, Molly never expected him to walk away and never return! And to command the search of his own family's house! Last night, Arthur returned home in a rage. He could not believe that his own son would follow the Ministry to search the Burrow. He also missed his Muggle devices immensely and was quite sad to find his collection of sparkplugs gone.

Fred and George had appeared at dinner that night and told a detailed story of how they managed to jinx Percy on his way to work and also to have tampered with his apartment's locks so that when he unlocked his door he will be squirted with swelling ink (the twin's latest invention). They were retelling the account of Percy's nose swelling up to the size of an orange when Mrs. Weasley sharply told them to stop and then burst into tears. The rest of dinner was carried on in an awkward, quiet silence. It did not help that Bill also Apparated into the Burrow and announced that he managed to disorganize Percy's encyclopedias, which was sure to drive him nuts. Molly did not want to hear any more of Percy.

---------------

_Dear Mum,_

_This will probably be my last letter to you from Hogwarts. Graduation is next week and I can't wait to see everybody! How's the family? Charlie secured the Quiddich Cup again this year. Gryffindor vs. Ravenclaw's game ended 200 to 60 due to Charlie's superb flying. I've gotten a job offer at Flourish and Blotts and I'm going to take it until I can find something that pays better (and with more excitement). I'm still trying to secure a job in either Egypt or Africa breaking ancient curses. Anyway, can't wait to see you and everyone else._

_Love,_

_Bill_

_At that moment, Bill Weasley had just gotten his final exams scores back and found himself graduating at the top of his class. This wasn't too unexpected, as Bill was Head Boy and had always done remarkably well in school. The only subject he needed help with was Care of Magical Creatures which Charlie often assisted him in. _

_When Bill Weasley received his Hogwarts diploma from Dumbledore, Molly wiped her eyes and Arthur squeezed her shoulder. It was the first of the Weasley graduations. Ginny laughed and pointed to Bill, saying, "That's my brother!" Fred and George thought to celebrate the moment by setting off some wet-start, no heat fireworks which caused considerable distraction to everyone at the ceremony and things settled down only after several staff members (including Dumbledore) stopped the explosions in which fire already caught on to an unsuspecting student's robes and Mrs. Weasley yelled herself hoarse at the twins for misbehaving on such an important occasion. _


	4. ch 4 Fred and George's Many Owls

**Chapter 4- Fred and George's Many Owls**

_To Mr. and Mrs. Weasley:_

_I am writing to inform you that your sons, Misters Fred and George Weasley, first years, have been given a detention for filling the Slytherin common room with Stink Pellets. I do not know how they managed to get the password and I hope that they will never make such trouble again. Several students fainted and had to be sent to the hospital wing. _

_Sincerely,_

_Professor Minerva McGonagall_

_Head of Gryffindor House_

_Hogwarts__ School__ of Witchcraft and Wizardry_

-------

_To Mr. and Mrs. Weasley:_

_I am writing to inform you that your sons, Misters Fred and George Weasley, first years, have been given a week's detention for sneaking into the forbidden forest in the middle of the night. They claimed that they got lost on their way to the bathroom. _

_Sincerely,_

_Professor Minerva McGonagall_

_Head of Gryffindor House_

_Hogwarts__ School__ of Witchcraft and Wizardry_

Molly's eyes narrowed in suspicion as she thought of all those owls she received from Hogwarts due to Fred and George. She sighed. Those boys. Well, at least they've grown up a little and have used their talent of creating chaos at their joke shop. She flipped through the thirty something owls from Fred and George's first year.

_Dear Mr. and Mrs. Weasley,_

_I am requesting a conference for Fred and George. They have started their second year by setting off twenty Ever-Bashing Boomerangs in the Great Hall this morning and caused considerable stress to the staff as well as holding up class for thirty minutes. Several students have been knocked out and had to be sent to the hospital wing._

_Sincerely,_

_Professor McGonagall_

_Hogwarts_

_-------------_

_Dear Mr. and Mrs. Weasley,_

_Thank you for taking time to come to Hogwarts. Fred and George have improved their behavior considerably for exactly two weeks after you came and met them. However, this morning, they have been caught by Professor Snape in the midst of writing rude words about the Slytherin's Quiddich team on the walls in the Great Hall. They have been suspended from next week's match._

_Professor McGonagall_

In spite of the seriousness of the offense, Molly couldn't help laughing a bit as she shuffled through more letters.

_Dear Arthur and Molly,_

_This year, Fred and George started the week by blowing up a toilet. Gave them three days work of detention as the mess was terrible and students had to be evacuated from Flitwick's class, which unfortunately, was right across from the bathroom in which the toilet exploding. They claimed they got the idea from you. Rest assured, they will be writing lines on their detentions as not to tell such lies._

_Minerva_

----------------

_Dear Arthur and Molly,_

_Fred and George were caught throwing snowballs at Professor Quirrell's turban. In light of the holidays, I have chosen not to give them a detention. Just thought to notify you of their mischief as required by school rules._

_Minerva _

'Why did I keep all of these owls?' Molly thought to herself. 'They just remind me of their troubles.' She thought about her twin sons. No matter how many detentions they received, they just continued causing mayhem.

_Molly,_

_Fred and George have been suspended from Hogsmeade visits this year because they managed to destroy Severus's dungeon by emitting a series of exploding grime rocks. Whole thing burned down. Took the staff half the day to put the dungeon right. _

_Minerva_

---------------------

_Molly,_

_Thanks for the Christmas mince pies. Regrettably, I had to put your sons in detention right before the holiday break because they were caught replacing Severus's potions with their own inventions of "wart growing wizzes". _

_Minerva_

_--------------------_

_Molly,_

_Just a reminder to let you know that the Order is meeting on Tuesday evening.__ Also, Fred and George have been put to help Filch scrub toilets without magic because they had locked the Slytherin's captain into a broom closet right before the big match. _

_Minerva_

----------------

_Dear Arthur and Molly,_

_Mr. Filch asked me to write this letter personally to let me ask you to stop your sons, Misters Fred and George Weasley, from causing mischief. Apparently, Mr. Filch caught them sneaking around in the corridors for the fourth time this week carrying what seemed to be black-market butterbeers and leaving itching powder in the Slytherin's Quiddich robes in the locker rooms. _

_Yours Sincerely,_

_Albus__ Dumbledore_

_Headmaster of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry_

_(Order of Merlin, First Class, Grand Sorc., Chf. Warlock, Supreme Mugwump, International Confed. of Wizards)_

_---------------------_

**TO ARTHUR AND MOLLY**

_Due to the many bottles of ink, many scrolls of parchment and many quills being used during the last four years of Fred and George's detentions, we have developed this magic parchment which will update itself on Fred and George's detentions and reasons. Please do not throw this parchment away as it may change probably later this week or tomorrow._

**FRED AND GEORGE'S REASON FOR DETENTION: **_Bewitching the knights in armor to sing Christmas carols replaced with foul words._

**GIVEN PUNISHMENT: **_Helping Filch reorganize their detention records as have gotten very long._

_Minerva McGonagall _

That was the last owl Molly received from Minerva about Fred and George. She couldn't remember how many times the parchment updated itself. Molly laughed softly. She really did love those boys.

A/N: Comments? Suggestions? Requests? Review!


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